Film Review - The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover was a film that was written and directed by Peter Greenaway in 1989. It is considered to be a romantic, crime drama and the film follows the story of Albert Spica who takes control over a high end restaurant called Le Hollandais. He makes a series of appearances to the hotel with his wife, Georgina who gains the attention of another regular diner, Micheal. Over the course of the film Georgina and Micheal begin an affair and when Albert finds out, the couple go to hide in Micheal's book shop. Albert finds out their location and sends his men to break in when Georgina is away to torture then kill Michael. When Georgina finds his body she begs the restaurants chef to cook and prepare Micheal's body which leads to her confronting and forcing Albert at gunpoint to eat a forkful of Michael's body. The film ends with her killing Albert which can be seen in figure 1.

Figure 1. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)

The film has many powerful and memorable characters that move along the story and help to enhance the horror characteristics of the film, "No behavior is too crude for the thief, who delights in making animal noises, who humiliates his underlings, who beats and degrades his wife, and whose treatment of the chef in the opening scene may send some patrons racing for the exits before the real horror show has even begun." (Egbert,1999) This strong personality means that the audience maintains powerful feelings of hatred and resentment towards Albert throughout the movie. His actions are strong and made out of anger and selfish greed which makes the other characters around him also react in strength towards his personality. "For such behavior takes place in a milieu of sophisticated tastes to which the thief aspires, and which looks a skewed half-step beyond familiar reality. Though the thief talks and acts as if he has crawled out of a sewer, he and his henchmen wear dandyish frock coats, shirts with jabots and frilled cuffs, and jewel-colored satin sashes across their chests." (James,1990) This contrast between the disgusting and terrible behavior and the more neat and higher class clothes which can be seen in figure 2, means that Albert's actions contrast with his appearance. This works well to add depth to the character and also visually it makes the film ore memorable. 

Figure 2. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)

The colours in this film work to split up each setting. The blue colours of the car park act as a break from the vibrant stress of the restaurant and the brown suit of Michael works as a constant and unchanging reassurance up until the end. "Greenaway's use of lighting and color recalls Lynch's contemporary, more mainstream artistic usage of color and lighting to evoke moods and ratchet tension [...] occasionally, he floods the screen with so much red light that distinguishing between objects is nearly impossible, as if the frame of a Bergman red fade got stuck in the middle of the fade-out." (Cole,2009) The intensity of the red throughout the scene links in with the themes of death, lust, and danger which can be seen in figure 3.

Figure 3. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)

Bibliography: 

Ebert,R. (1999) 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover Review' At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-cook-the-thief-his-wife-and-her-lover-1999 (Accessed 12/01/2017)

James,C. (1990) 'Peter Greenaway's Elegant and Brutal 'Cook" At: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE4DE1F3DF935A35757C0A966958260 (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Cole,J. (2009) '1989 Rewind: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' At: http://armchairc.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/1989-rewind-cook-thief-his-wife-and-her.html (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Illustrations:

Figure 1. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover [Film Still] At: http://la-petite-bouffe.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/cheri-fais-moi-peur-et-sers-moi-mon.html (Accessed 12/01/2017)

Figure 2. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover [Film Still] At: http://www.fmvmagazine.com/p=38490 (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Figure 3. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover [Film Still] At: http://filmstillcatalogue.blogspot.co.uk/2011_09_01_archive.html (Accessed 12/01/2017)